'It’s been an absolute nightmare’ - Family of mother who died after potato row speak out as son cleared

The 40-year-old from Brierley Hill was found not guilty of manslaughter after his 78-year-old Hazel fell on Christmas Eve 2015 following an argument over cooking dinner. She died at Russells Hall Hospital less than a month later from infection.

Now the family say they just want to get on and grieve for their mother as they stress it should never have gone to court.

Mr Jennens sister Tracey Jennens said: “Since the moment mum passed away it is has been an absolute nightmare.

“We have never been allowed to see her. She had numerous post mortems. Parts of her body were sent to different parts of the country. It has been horrific.

“We couldn’t have the funeral for 14 months.

“We feel like we have had our rights taken away from us. It should never have got this far. There was no public interest in this.”

MORE: Son accused of mother's manslaughter following Christmas potato row is cleared

His other sister Dawn Ellis added: “Now we can just get on with grieving for her. We couldn’t even have the funeral until this year.

“It has been so upsetting. She would not have wanted this for Mark.”

The case gained a certain notoriety when it was revealed the pair had rowed over the seemingly trivial matter of how to cook potatoes moments before Mr Jennens pulled his mother up by the arms and tried to frogmarch her to the door when she collapsed and broke her hip.

But what subsequently emerged during a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court was how the heavy burden of looking after his ‘difficult’ and at times ‘evil’ mother, who suffered terminal lung cancer and emphysema, took its own toll on Mr Jennens to the point of contemplating suicide.

He had suffered a breakdown in early 2015 after caring for his mother for more than a decade, but when he sought help from social services Hazel declined external support.

“It was a none-starter with her,” Mr Jennens had told police.

Even now he holds no bitterness towards them but said the system could improve.

He said: “I can’t fault social services. If a person who needs care refuses to participate you are left to drift. It is not social services’ fault.

“There needs to be more of a balance struck between the people providing care and the people who need it.” The jury was told Mr Jennens’ own mental state declined further at the realisation he was on his own which led to insomnia and him losing his job.

The court heard on December 24 years of verbal abuse from his mother had brought him to breaking point and prior to grabbing her he had declared it would be the last time she spoke to him ‘like dirt’.

He said ‘in a panic’ he simply intended to get Hazel outside and out of his face so he could be alone and cry but it all went horribly wrong.

In despair Mr Jennens called the ambulance and police himself admitting he had ‘lost it’. He never disputed assaulting his mother but the case hinged on whether the attack had been the substantial cause of death.

However his defence had been that on June 18 two days before her death, Hazel having had a successful hip operation and having already recovered from an infection, was incorrectly administered Salbutamol – via oxygen rather than an air pump – which led to her immediate decline.

A jury took just one hour 23 minutes to find him not guilty of manslaughter prompting tears of joy and expressions of exhausted relief from the family. Mr Jennens told the Express & Star: “I don’t want anyone to be punished. But I wouldn’t want to see something like this happen to another person again. Lessons need to be learned. Something good needs to come out of this.”

Diane Wake, chief executive of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a very tragic case and our thoughts are with the family. We investigate every death in hospital and these form part of our mortality review process. No clinical issues were raised during our investigation and we would be happy to discuss any concerns the family have with them.”